George Suyama began his architectural practice in Seattle in 1971. Over time, he developed an architecture characterized by a search for minimalist simplicity, a paradoxical architecture of intense, even exciting, tranquility. Suyama’s quest to eliminate what he calls “visual noise” has yielded not visual silence but a kind of visual music. “Suyama: A Complex Serenity” introduces the man and his work, and twenty of his built and unbuilt projects that illuminate the development of his remarkable art and craft.

Grant Hildebrand (’57, MA ’64) is professor emeritus of architecture and art history at the University of Washington, and author of seven books on architecture.